Battle of Dogger Bank (1915) - Background

Background

With the German battle fleet effectively bottled up by Admiral David Beatty′s success at Heligoland Bight, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl—Commander-in-Chief of the German fleet—decided to launch a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on the British east coast with Admiral Franz Hipper′s battlecruiser squadron—comprising three battlecruisers and one large armoured cruiser—supported by light cruisers and destroyers. Hipper opened fire at 08:00 on 16 December 1914, eventually killing 108 civilians and wounding 525. Public and political opinion was outraged that German warships could sail so close to the British coast, shelling coastal towns with apparent impunity; British naval forces had failed to prevent the attacks, and also failed to intercept Hipper's raiding squadron afterwards. (Though the British fleet was at sea hunting Hipper after the raid, the Germans escaped in stormy weather, aided by low visibility and British communication problems.)

Buoyed by the success of the raid, Admiral Hipper resolved to repeat the exercise by attacking the British fishing fleet on the Dogger Bank—midway between Germany and Britain—the following month. But through intercepted German radio traffic decoded by Room 40 of British Naval Intelligence, the British learned of Hipper′s planned sortie on 23 January 1915. Acting Vice Admiral Beatty set sail from Rosyth with five battlecruisers — supported by four light cruisers — to attempt to trap Hipper′s force. Joined by additional cruisers and destroyers from Harwich, Beatty headed south, encountering Hipper′s screening vessels at the Dogger Bank at 07:05 on 24 January. The day was clear and visibility was unusually good.